THE GENESIS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. 355 



purpose to which it is devoted; but so raauy distinct sciences claim a share of the 

 room, that only a small area can be set apart for any one of them. The collections 

 of the exploring expedition swell out beyond our expectations, and when fully ar- 

 ranged there will be room for little else. 



The package of mineral and geological specimens already opened occupy three of 

 the cases in the hall and there are yet 7 or 8 boxes untouched. These expedition 

 collections include suites of specimens from the following countries and islands:. 



1. Brazil, illustrating especially the deposits of gold and gems in the great mining 

 district of Minas Geraes; also the structure of the countries about Rio Janeiro. 



2. Rio Negro, Patagonia, where the extensive Pampas of La Plata, and the Ter- 

 tiary deposits upon which they rest, afforded us a series of interesting specimens, 

 exhibiting the character of these great prairies of the south, and the salt lakes that 

 abound over them. 



3. Orange Bay, Terra del Fuego, where terminates the great chain of the Andes. 

 A species of fossil and the nature of the rock deposits, appear to afford sufficient 

 evidence of the similar and consentaneous origin of this portion of the chain with 

 the Andes of Chile and Peru. 



4. Chile, and the Chilean Andes. The mountains were twice ascended by i^arties 

 from the expedition, and si)ecimens obtained, in addition to the rocks of the coast, 

 and oi-es from copper mines. 



5. Lima and the Peruvian Andes, affording us gold and silver ores. The summit 

 of the Andes was passed by a party of officers, and among their collections is a 

 fossil Ammonite, a large extinct s])ecies of shell, obtained at a t(eight of 16,000 feet. 



6. Oregon. The collections illustrate the rock formations of Northwest America, 

 including the lignite or coal deposits of the Cowlitz and Erasers River, the sand- 

 stones and clay slide occurring at intervals from Puget Sound into California, afford- 

 ing numerous organic remains of shells, echini, fish, etc., and the granites, basaltic 

 rocks, limestones, ores, etc., of the Territory. 



7. Upper California. 



H. The SandAvich Islands. A region of volcanoes of various ages from the great 

 gulf of Lua Pele, where lakes of liquid tire still boil, to the lofty mountains of the 

 western islands of the group, which in the lapse of time have been so shattered by 

 convulsions and worn by an abrading sea, rains, and running water, that no distinct 

 trace of the vent or vents that ejected the successive layers of basaltic rock. On 

 account of this difference of age in the several pai'ts of the group, we have not only 

 complete collections of modern lavas, but others illustrating the operations of these 

 fires for ages back. The late eruption of June, 1841, is well illustrated by numer- 

 ous specimens from its lavas or scoria, and from the sandhills and new beach formed 

 as the lavas entered the sea. The tops of the high mountains of Hawaii, each about 

 14,000 feet in elevation, have also conti'ibuted to the collections, through the exer- 

 tion of the officers of the Viiivenries, who were long engaged in explorations on this 

 • island. 



9. Navigator or Samoan Islands, a region of ancient basaltic mountains and ex- 

 tinct craters, some of whose twisted lavas and scoria seemed to be of ([uite recent 

 origin. 



10. Society Islands, of similar structure, but with fewer evidences of modern vol- 

 canic action. 



11. Fiji Islands, also basaltic and containing some boiling springs. 



12. New Zealand, combining the craters, active and extinct, boiling springs and 

 volcanic products of the other Polynesian island, with granite rocks, sandstones, 

 and shales, and deposits of coal. 



13. New Holland, the collec^tions from the coal region, including the fossil vege- 

 tation and from the subjacent rocks which abound in organic remains, is probably 

 the most extensive that ever left the country. 



14. Philippine Islands, a region of granite and talcose rocks, sandstone, shales, and 



